diff --git a/hw/smbios/smbios.c b/hw/smbios/smbios.c
index 60349ee402..4c9f664830 100644
--- a/hw/smbios/smbios.c
+++ b/hw/smbios/smbios.c
@@ -1205,13 +1205,15 @@ void smbios_entry_add(QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp)
             return;
         }
 
-        if (test_bit(header->type, have_fields_bitmap)) {
-            error_setg(errp,
-                       "can't load type %d struct, fields already specified!",
-                       header->type);
-            return;
+        if (header->type <= SMBIOS_MAX_TYPE) {
+            if (test_bit(header->type, have_fields_bitmap)) {
+                error_setg(errp,
+                           "can't load type %d struct, fields already specified!",
+                           header->type);
+                return;
+            }
+            set_bit(header->type, have_binfile_bitmap);
         }
-        set_bit(header->type, have_binfile_bitmap);
 
         if (header->type == 4) {
             smbios_type4_count++;